Tag: Madge Dresser

In the latest of our ‘Roots of Hatred’ series, RSS presenters Valerie Emmott, Danyal Laskar and Madge Dresser continue their look at some small starts to big problems.

With the recent rise of the far-right in the UK and European elections, what’s the uneasy balance between democracy, free speech and hate speech? Does this say anything about intolerances and scapegoats in our modern world? How far back does Islamophobia go? Did anti-Semitism start in similar ways? What’s the story of the Saracen’s Head? How does a piece of ceramics found in a 21st century city centre development reveal the respect earned by Muslim leader Saladin in 12th century Bristol?

With more on the links between the Crusades and how we live now, it’s worth taking a close look at what ‘Crusade’ actually means. Madge speaks to Dr Peter Fleming, a specialist in Middle Ages Europe at the University of the West of England. She also talks to Gail Boyle, archaeologist at Bristol City Museums, about a surprising legacy of the new Colston Hall development.

It’s not all talk on the podcast. There’s also some amazing music, including a song that was ‘top of the charts’ back in the 12th Century! The Early Music Consort performs one of fewer than 200 pieces of medieval music that survive: “Chevalier, Mult Estes Guariz” from the time of the 2nd Crusade. Translation available here so put that on your – er – ‘knight’pod.

LISTEN TO THE PODCAST HERE:

With the recent rise of the far-right in the UK and European elections, what’s the uneasy balance between democracy, free speech and hate speech? Does this say anything about intolerances and scapegoats in our modern world? How far back does Islamophobia go? Did anti-Semitism start in similar ways? What’s the story of the Saracen’s Head? How does a piece of ceramics found in a 21st century city centre development reveal the respect earned by Muslim leader Saladin in 12th century Bristol?

Today in Bristol, there’s a Muslim population of around 30 000, most of them relatively recent arrivals to the city, having arrived over the last 50 years. This compares to a considerably smaller Jewish community of something around 1 000 alongside them in a city which is home to two synagogues and around a dozen mosques . (Click on these links for online tours of some of these local buildings from the local BBC website).

Not many people know the history of these communities here and very few realise that there’s a millenium’s worth of Jewish presence on the banks of the Avon River.

>This year’s Cannes Film Festival premiered with Up, an innovative 3d animated film using new technologies which will lie at the foundation of future cinema. However, the film which won the prestigious Golden Palm award was a completely different experience. Made in black and white, The White Ribbon (German: Das weiße Band) takes audiences right back in time to pre First World War Germany. Director Michael Haneke says the film is about “the origin of every type of terrorism, be it of political or religious nature.” It explores the origins of the fascism that would lead to the rise of the Nazis many years later and the slow ferment of racial and cultural hatreds that led to the Third Reich’s Holocaust.

With this in mind, presenters Danyal, Valerie and Madge are introducing a new series of regular podcasts looking at The Roots Of Hatred. What lessons should we look for from the past when trying to understand and counter today’s alarming rise in anti-Semitic and Islamophobic sentiments? How does a more mutual, shared future grow from where we’ve come from in our societies?

The Woolfe Institute of Abrahamic Faiths opened its Cambridge University-based Centre for Muslim and Jewish Relations at around the same time that Radio Salaam Shalom launched in early 2007.

Now the 2008 Cambridge Festival of Ideas has provided our two organisations with an excellent opportunity to work together for the first time.

Presented by Station Manager Kyle Hannan, this feature carries the full debate with the CMJR’s Dr Ed Kessler and Sheikh Michael Mumisa as they discuss “Jewish-Muslim Relations – The State of Play”, chaired by Salaam Shalom’s Madge Dresser.